PEONO Chess Club

✘ The word 'Peono' means pawn in Esperanto language. It was chosen as the name of the club because of Esperanto's global, inclusive approach, as well as the genderless form of the word and its harmonious phonetic which also resembles the southern-romanian slang; e.g. 'pionul' which is romanian for 'the pawn' could be pronounced as 'peono' by some locals. The etymology of the word 'pawn' goes back a couple thousand years to the word 'padati' which in Sanskrit means foot soldier. Chaturanga was the predecessor of chess in India and the padati was one of the pieces. After the game evolved into chess (shatranj) in Persia the meaning of the pawn remained mostly the same. In latin 'pedes' means foot soldier but in German 'Bauer' and Spanish 'peon; mean peasant or agricultural worker. This meaning has been borrowed in many Germanic and Slavonic languages. The French 'pion' and the Spanish 'peón' are both derived from the latin pes : pedis 'foot'. The name pawn derives from the Anglo-French word 'poun' and ultimately from a direct translation of the Arabic word 'baidaq', a foot soldier. The French 'pion' was borrowed in many languages and in these cases its meaning refers only to the chess piece.

✘ The pawn is the weakest piece on a chess board which is mostly relevant as a group or structure but which can also promote itself to become any of the minor or major pieces (knight, bishop, rook, queen). Thus the name of this chess club represents the members as equals and the fact that with the help of each other we can all learn more about chess and become better players no matter where we start from.

✘ Filaret 16 is one of the few DIY spaces in Bucharest and to show our appreciation for lending us the space and support them, a small donation is required each time we use the space as well as buying coffee, tea or beer in-house, at a very decent, below market price.

✘ In order to grow and have enough tournament size boards and pieces as well as learning materials and activities, every member will have to pay a registration donation of minimum 50 lei, which reduces the weekly space donation to a minimum of 5 lei. People who don't want to become members of the club will have to donate a minimum of 10 lei each time they want to come and play or watch. Other donations above the minimum required are always welcomed for the chess club as well as for the DIY space.

✘ Everyone who pays the registration donation will receive a personalized 𝐏𝐄𝐎𝐍𝐎 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐂𝐥𝐮𝐛 card.

♟♟♟♟"The Pawns are the soul of the game" Francois-Andre Danican Philidor♟♟♟♟